Method of and means for stowing and launching ships&#39; boats.



A. WILSON & J. ROBSON.

METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR STOWING AND LAUNGHING SHIPS BOATS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 29, 1913.

1,1 31,453. Patented M119, 1915. I

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

THE NORRIS BFTERS m..PHO1D-UTHO., WASHIHGWII, D. C.

A. WILSON & J. ROBSON. METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR STOWING AND LAUNGHING SHIPS BOATS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 29,.1913.

1,131,453 I 1 Patented M21119, 1915.

j 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

THE NOIZnlS PVETERYS C0,. PHOm-LITHO.. WASHINGTON. D. c.

UNXTIE STATE @FFltCif.

ARTHUR WILSON AND JOHN EUBSGN, OF WESTMINSTER, LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOBS TO THE VARIABLE S79E31) LIMITED, OF WESTMINSTER,

ENGLAND.

METHOD OF AND lJIEANfi FOE STGVTING AND LAUNCHING SHIPS BOATS.

menses.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 9, i215.

App1ication filed September 29, 1913. Serial No. 792,289.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ARTHUR WILSON and JOHN Ronsox, both subjects of the King of Great Britain, residing at Broadway Court, Westminster, in the county of London, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in or Relating to the Method of and Means for Stowing and Launching Ships Boats, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved method of and means for stowing and launching ships boats or rafts and has for its chief object to facilitate and accelerate the launching of the same as compared for example with the case where launching is effected by a derrick or jib on one of the masts of a ship.

According to this invention the ship is provided (preferably on the center line) with one or more cranes which are suitably mounted on revolving turntables and are capable of lifting and launching from either side of the ship a number of boats or rafts arranged on the deck on both sides of the center line in one or more concentric arcs struck from the center of each crane. By such an arrangement the usual davits are dispensed with and the whole of the boats within the reach of each crane can be launched from either side of the ship, that is to say the boats on the starboard side, together with those on the port side, can all be launched from either the port or the starboard side. Furthermore it is possible for the passengers and crew to enter the boats while the latter are on deck, thereby facilitating the loading of the boats. By placing the boats on concentric arcs the operations of lifting and lowering are considerably simplified, controlling gear being preferably fitted to the machinery of the crane for bringing the jib automatically to rest in the required position coinciding with the radius of each arc; in this manner over-running of the mechanism of the crane is avoided.

In order that the said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect, we will describe the same more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a rear elevation. Fig. 2 a part side elevation, and Fig. 3 a part plan showing a ship provided with a constructional form of our improvements. Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are respectively a side elevation, a plan and a section taken approximately on the line 11 of Fig. 5, showing a constructional form of the aforesaid controlling gear.

In the example shown two cranes A, A are provided, the jib A. of each of which can be raised and lowered by a motor B (Figs. 4L and 5) these cranes being arranged one behind each of the funnels. In the example shown the boats, of which there are preferably ten to each crane, are arranged on the deck of the vessel in such positions that four of them can be handled by the crane when the jib moves through the outer arc b (Fig. 3) and six of them when the jib moves through the inner are 6. Of these latter boats two are preferably motor boats each of which is adapted, if necessary, to tow four of the other boats. The motive power used for working the cranes may be derived from steam, electricity, petrol or other suitable source; in the preferred arrangement the cranes are driven through the intervention of a variable hydraulic transmission gear, the pump unit of which is adapted to be placed in communication with any one of the motor units operating the hoisting, sluing and traversing gears, in the manner set forth in the specification of our copending application Serial No. 792,288 filed September 29, 1913.

In Figs. 4: and 5 the motor B is one of the motor units supplied by the pump unit (not shown) and B is the pinion driven thereby that operates the drum for raising and lowering the jib. The shaft B on which the said pinion is mounted is prolonged and is adapted to drive, through any suitable mechanism such as that shown, a worm wheel C and one member D of a clutch of any suitable type such as the dog clutch shown or a cone or slipping clutch. This clutch member is loosely mounted on a shaft E which operates the control device 2'. e. the tilting box or plate of the pump unit when a variable speed hydraulic transmission gear is employed. The worm wheel C is formed on one face with a continuous cam groove G having two or more depressions 0. By means of this cam groove, through the medium of a pin or roller C movement is imparted to a lever 0 attached to a horizontal spindle G On the end of the spindle C remote from the lever c is a forked lever 0 engaging with a sleeve D carried by a part D which forms the movable clutch member that is adapted to cooperate with the clutch member D. The said movable clutch member is slidably keyed to the control shaft E. A spring d is interposed between the flange of the clutch member D and the sleeve D. When the jib A of the crane is lying in a horizontal position, as shown in Fig. 2, the relative positions of the cam groove C and the clutch member D may be as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, z. e. the pin C is at its maximum radius from the axis of rotation of the worm wheel C and the clutch member D is out of engagement with the member D. In order to bring the jib into the position represented in Fig. l in which it is able to lift and lower the four boats on the outer are 6, the ports of the distributing valves are placed so that the fluid pumped from the pump unit of the variable speed gear is conducted to the motor unit B, and causes the shaft B and the pin-ion B to rotate. The worm wheel C driven from the shaft B moves in the direction of the arrow (Fig. 4) about its journals, but as the radius of the greater part of the cam groove C is uniform, the lever 0 remains stationary, and the clutch memher I) is kept out of engagement with the member D. lVhen the worm wheel has moved to bring the depression 0 of the cam groove into contact with the roller or pin U clockwise movement is imparted to the lever c and the clutch member D is brought into engagement with the member As the member D is keyed to the control shaft E and the member D is rotated from the shaft 13 rotary movement is imparted to the control shaft and the tilting box of the pump unit of the variable speed gear is brought to its zero position. The distance between the two outer ends of the depression is such as to keep the clutch member D in the engaged position for a sufficient time to enable the control shaft E to be displaced far enough to bring the tilting box into the zero position. In this manner the shaft B and the jib A of the crane come to rest when the roller C again reaches the concentric portion of the groove C, the clutch member D being then out of engagement with the member D. The control shaft E is then free to be turned by the operator to cause the jib to be brought into the second position indicated by the smallerarc b in Fig. 3. When the control shaft is turned so that the shaft B is again caused to rotate, the worm wheel 0 will travel in the direction of the arrow, and the action of the cam groove 0 on the clutch member D will be similar to that described above. The spring (Z is provided to take up any additional amount of movement of the lever 0 other than that required to put the clutch into gear. In this manner the full depth of the jaws on the clutch, when a dog clutch is used, can be taken advantage of, and in the case of a friction clutch, the clutch can be kept in gear for a maximum period of time. In case of a mishap to the motor or to the crane which would bring the shaft B to rest with the roller C in any part of the depression 0, the clutch member D would be in engagement with the member D and the control shaft E would then be locked. By making the angle of the jaws on the clutch members D D (or the cone in the case of a friction clutch) of suitable size, the effort exerted by the operator on the control shaft E can be employed to bring the clutch out of gear and so permit the said control shaft to be turned.

In an alternative arrangement the boats may be arranged in two or more series one above the other so that they; all lie in the path of the end of the jib of the crane during the sluing of the latter. In this manner one position of the mechanism for raising and lowering the jib will enable all the boats to be lifted in succession.

When the cranes are not in use the jibs are lowered and fixed in a position to coincide with the ships center line. Any suitable form of slip hook or other device may be used for releasing the boats when lowered, and this device may be actuated by the operator who controls the crane.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is':

1. Apparatus for launching ships boats or rafts, comprising a rotatable crane arranged upon the center line of the ship, a jib of said crane, means carried by said jib for raising and lowering a load, means for raising and lowering the jib so that it can e caused to describe an arc of a circle beneath which a number of boats or rafts are arranged on the deck of the ship, and means for automatically bringing said jib to rest in a position corresponding to the said are.

2. Apparatus for launching ships boats or rafts, comprising a rotatable crane arranged upon the center line of the ship, a jib of said crane, means carried by said jib for raising and lowering a load, means for raising and lowering the jib so that it can be caused to describe any one of several arcs of circles of different radius beneathwhich arcs a number of boats or rafts are arranged on the deck of the ship, and means for automatically bringing said jib to rest in positions corresponding to each of said arcs of circles.

3. Apparatus for launching ships boats or rafts, comprising a rotatable crane arranged upon the center line of the ship, a

jib of said crane, means carried by said jib for raising and lowering a load, a motor for raising and lowering the jib into any one of a number of positions, a member for controlling said motor, and means operating upon said control member for automatically bringing the motor to rest in successive positions.

4. Apparatus for launching ships boats or rafts, comprising a rotatable crane arranged upon the center line of the ship, a jib of said crane, means carried by said jib for raising and lowering a load, a motor for raising and lowering the jib into any one of a number of positions, a member for controlling said motor, and means operating upon said control member for automatically bringing the motor to rest in successive positions, and for freeing the said member so that it can be actuated manually to re-start the motor.

5. Apparatus for launching ships boats or rafts, comprising a rotatable crane arranged upon the center line of the ship, a jib of said crane, means carried by said jib for raising and lowering a load, a motor for raising and lowering the jib into any one of a number of positions, a member for controlling said motor, a cam device driven by said motor and means interposed between said cam device and the control member for automatically moving the latter to bring the motor to rest.

6. Apparatus for launching ships boats or rafts, comprising a rotatable crane arranged upon the center line of the ship, a jib of said crane, means carried by said jib for raising and lowering a load, a motor for raising and lowering the jib into any one of a number of positions, a member for controlling said motor, a cam device driven by said motor and means interposed between said cam device and the control member for automatically moving the latter to bring the motor to rest and for freeing the said member so that it can be actuated manually to restart the motor.

7. Apparatus for launching ships boats or rafts, comprising a rotatable crane arranged upon the center line of the ship, a jib of said crane, means carried by said jib for raising and lowering a load, a motor for raising and lowering the jib into any one of a number of positions, a member for controlling said motor, a clutch member loosely arranged on the control member, means for driving said clutch member from the motor, a second clutch member connected to said control member, and means actuated from said motor for automatically causing said clutch members to be engaged to enable the motor to actuate the control member and bring the motor to rest.

8. Apparatus for launching ships boats or rafts, comprising a rotatable crane ar ranged upon the center line of the ship, a jib of said crane, means carried by said jib for raising and lowering a load, a motor for raising and lowering the jib into any one of a number of positions, a member for controlling said motor, a clutch member loosely arranged on the control member, means for driving said clutch member from the motor, a second clutch member connected to said control member, a cam, means for driving said cam from the motor, an arm cooperating with said cam and means for transmitting the movement of said arm, imparted by the cam, to the second clutch member for causing it to be engaged with and disengaged from the first mentioned clutch member.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two Witnesses.

ARTHUR WILSON. JNO. ROBSON.

Witnesses T. SELBY VVARDLE, Tnos. F. Hanennavns.

{topics of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

